Dana White Profile

Born July 28, 1969 in Manchester Connecticut

Dana White is a former amateur boxer turned President of the UFC. He was raised in Las Vegas, Boston and Maine. Growing up in Las Vegas he was childhood friends with Lorenzo Fertitta whom he would eventually pair up with later to purchase the UFC. While an amateur boxer Dana was also an aerobics instructor and conducted aerobics at 3 gyms in Las Vegas. White began to manage MMA fighters Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, and learned that Semaphore Entertainment Group, the parent company of the UFC, was looking for a buyer to purchase the UFC. Dana soon contacted childhood friend Lorenzo Fertitta who had gone onto become an executive at Station Casinos and former commissioner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Shortly after, Lorenzo and his older brother Frank bought the UFC in 2001 for $2 million. They made Dana White the President of the UFC, and currently owns 10% of Zuffa, LLC, the entity that the Fertitta brothers created to own and manage the UFC. At the time of the purchase the UFC wasn't even allowed on Pay Per View or television.

Dana White had a goal of bringing the UFC to the homes of fight fans and develop a plan to do it. Television would solve the problems and how they did that was to create The Ultimate Fighter reality show. The show brought in top fighters who were not as well known as guys on the UFC roster. The show landed on Spike TV and became a big success. At the end of the show, the 2 remaining fighters had to fight live in Las Vegas on Spike to find out who won the contract awarded. The live finale is what changed the world of Mixed Martial Arts. Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar competed in the finale and Forrest won the fight although Dana gave both fighters a contract for such an amazing fight. Dana and the UFC has kept the TV show going, making some changes along the way and its currently televising season 8. Fighters from the show have won championship belts, fought for titles and many are still under contracts with the UFC.

Dana White has a personality that clashes with some of the critics of the sport. He is not afraid to use curse words, rarely says what is politically correct, bashes fighters to promote his organization and also has had a long running feud with Tito Ortiz, the fighter he used to manage. There are many negative things that could be said about Dana, but the fact is, he works hard and brought this business from the dead to every home in the United States and around the world.

Dana White Profile: Gabe November 11, 2008